Air curtain destructors can be used to burn various materials (“fuel”) including wood, bio-mass, organic materials, solid and/or processed wastes (e.g., municipal solid waste) and/or other carbon based materials (e.g., coal). The fuel may be loaded into an inner cavity of the air curtain destructor and ignited, such as by using an accelerant. An air curtain is then provided at the inner cavity to suppress the amount of smoke and particulate matter (“PM”) that leaves the air curtain destructor. However, heat and some exhaust can still escape from the open top of the air curtain destructor potentially decreasing the efficiency of the combustion and increasing the amount of pollutants escaping to the surrounding environment.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative hood assemblies for air curtain destructors to retain heat and direct exhaust.